2016 IAGD-GSA Accessible Field Trips Announced!

The International Association for Geoscience Diversity is excited to announce TWO concurrent accessible field trips that will be offered at the 2016 Geological Society of America (GSA) annual meeting on Saturday, 24 September, in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. Based on the need to more deliberately encourage and support persons with disabilities working in Geoscience courses, these simultaneous trips will be fully inclusive and accessible opportunities for students and faculty of all physical, sensory, and cognitive abilities. Both trips are entitled “GSA Field Trip 417: An Accessible Journey through Geologic Time in Central Colorado.” Trip A will focus on accommodating higher education students with disabilities and faculty with and without disabilities. Whereas Trip B will provide an inclusive opportunity for Denver-area Middle and High School students with disabilities and local science teachers. Please see the following for more information on both trips and links to apply to participate in either trip. If accepted, all participants will need to register for the field course through GSA.

Travel Grants are available for undergraduate and graduate students!
To be considered for travel funding, students must complete the application form at: http://goo.gl/forms/7QmOhchXWm.

Trip A: Higher Education Students with Disabilities and Geoscience Faculty

Trip A is designed for post-secondary (undergraduate and graduate) students with disabilities and higher education Geoscience faculty with and without disabilities.

This field trip has three primary objectives: (1) to observe the physical record of central Colorado through geologic time; (2) to provide a fully-inclusive field-based learning experience for persons with disabilities; and (3) to provide a unique training opportunity for Geoscience faculty to learn effective accommodation strategies for Geoscience field courses by working directly with, and learning from, students and colleagues who will require such accommodations. Students and faculty will be paired in an active and inclusive community of learning where they can collaborate, teach, and learn from one another. At each stop, students and faculty will share their perspectives of the science of their surroundings and use their observations to make inferences about the processes which shaped, and continue to shape, each location. Additional discussions will take place to identify the physical and instructional barriers at each location, and consider ways to mitigate or remove these barriers for full access to the site and to learning. The trip will be offered to 15 students and 15 Geoscience faculty members, with preference given to individuals with disabilities, and to non-declared undergraduate students.

Student travel support is available! Additionally, through the support of GSA’s On to the Future program, all student participants with disabilities who are first-time attendees to a GSA meeting will be provided with paid registration to the 2016 GSA Annual Meeting (September 25-28) and a one-year membership to the Geological Society of America! For more information and to apply to participate in the On to the Future program, please visit: http://community.geosociety.org/otf/home/. The deadline to apply is 27 May 2016.

Trip B: Middle and High School Students with Disabilities and Science Teachers – CANCELLED

Pre-college students with disabilities may not be fully aware of career opportunities in the Earth Sciences available to them. In order to encourage them to consider the Earth Sciences as a viable career option, students at younger ages must be provided equal opportunities to learn and participate. This trip will provide an accessible field experience for middle and high school students with physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities. The unique aspect of this trip is the learning experience for teachers who will pair-up and learn from the students as they share their perspectives of learning in the environment.

Trip B is designed to encourage and future develop interest in pre-college students with disabilities, and to support the teachers that work to establish inclusive science classrooms. This field trip has three primary objectives: (1) to observe the Earth in context, including the changing physical record of central Colorado through geologic time; (2) to provide a fully-inclusive Earth Science learning experience for Denver-area middle and high school students with disabilities; and (3) to offer a unique professional development opportunity for local science teachers learning to create strategies for accommodation and inclusion in field-based learning environments. Students and teachers will be paired in an active and inclusive community of learning where they can collaborate, teach, and learn from one another. At each stop, students and teachers will share their perspectives of the environment as they consider the as they use their observations to make inferences about the processes which shaped, and continue to shape Colorado’s Front Range through Geologic time. The trip will be offered to 15 middle and high school students with disabilities, and 15 science teachers in the Denver area.

Cost: Through support from VISIT DENVER and the Geological Society of America, there is no cost for teachers and students to participate in this field trip. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will also be available to participating teachers free of charge.

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation, the International Association for Geoscience Diversity, the Geological Society of America, the GSA On to the Future Program, and VISIT DENVER.

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The IAGD is a 501c3, volunteer-driven, non-profit organization. 100% of all donations support inclusive and accessible programs for students and geoscientists with disabilities. For more information, please visit the IAGD Foundation page.

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Disclaimer: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0939645. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.